The Trump Presidency (Act V - The One Where Everybody Dies)

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Mycroft said:
Because most of us know someone or several people who are Trump supporters, but otherwise are kind, decent, educated people.

I also know at least one anti-vaxer who is not otherwise stupid, and have spoken with intelligent people who have been victimized by 419 scams.

Sometimes smart people do dumb things and hold stupid beliefs.
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You can be kind, decent and educated and still be stupid. I submit you can't be kind, and decent and still be a Trump supporter. I'll allow that you could be and have voted for him but not anymore. If you're still a Trump supporter you're stupid; something less than and not as good as the rest of us; not a loyal American.
 
Mycroft said:
Because most of us know someone or several people who are Trump supporters, but otherwise are kind, decent, educated people.

I also know at least one anti-vaxer who is not otherwise stupid, and have spoken with intelligent people who have been victimized by 419 scams.

Sometimes smart people do dumb things and hold stupid beliefs.
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I know 9 Trump supporters and there isn't an amazing one in them.
 
Fast Eddie B said:
I will periodically speak up and repeat that that is still missing the whole point.

What's more concerning is that how intelligent people are enthralled by Trump. Many are not stupid, so something else is going on.

"Our side is smart and their side is stupid" gets us nowhere.
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Agreed. While it is (probably) accurate to say that those strongly pro-Trump tend to be more stupid than those who are anti-Trump, it isn't just 'smart v dumb'.

I wouldn't be nearly as disgusted with the GOP or as worried if Trump had just managed to get where he is by appealing to the most base emotions and faults of the GOP...base... it wouldn't be as worrying. But he has people I would have otherwise called reasonable Republicans supporting him and attacking only the 'progs'. These are the people I would have formerly taken comfort in thinking about them restraining the worst of the Trumpists, even if I disagreed with them on issues. That they're going right along happily is the largest problem. There are some still trying to not, but they're very much a minority now.

It just occurred to me that I started out this post thinking I was going to defend some of the GOP and other conservatives against the charge they're just stupid, but have ended up calling them even worse. :(
 
tyr_13 said:
Agreed. While it is (probably) accurate to say that those strongly pro-Trump tend to be more stupid than those who are anti-Trump, it isn't just 'smart v dumb'.

I wouldn't be nearly as disgusted with the GOP or as worried if Trump had just managed to get where he is by appealing to the most base emotions and faults of the GOP...base... it wouldn't be as worrying. But he has people I would have otherwise called reasonable Republicans supporting him and attacking only the 'progs'. These are the people I would have formerly taken comfort in thinking about them restraining the worst of the Trumpists, even if I disagreed with them on issues. That they're going right along happily is the largest problem. There are some still trying to not, but they're very much a minority now.

It just occurred to me that I started out this post thinking I was going to defend some of the GOP and other conservatives against the charge they're just stupid, but have ended up calling them even worse. :(
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Folks like Paul Ryan ought to know better, but he's become part of the Trump Train. He's seen which way the wind blows and he's bent with it. Dang shame.

The same applies to the former Republican leadership as a whole.
 
Mycroft said:
Because most of us know someone or several people who are Trump supporters, but otherwise are kind, decent, educated people.
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What he said.

I think some are veering into No True Scotsman territory.

“I’ll give you that he is an aeronautical engineer and president of his local MENSA chapter, but if he supports Trump he’s still stupid.”

Definitely No True Scotsman. Or redefining the word “stupid” beyond all recognition.
 
Mycroft said:
Because most of us know someone or several people who are Trump supporters, but otherwise are kind, decent, educated people.

I also know at least one anti-vaxer who is not otherwise stupid, and have spoken with intelligent people who have been victimized by 419 scams.
Sometimes smart people do dumb things and hold stupid beliefs.
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Hilited: Where I live, that latter part - doing dumb things(plural) AND holding stupid beliefs(plural), sort of disqualifies one for inclusion in the former, "smart people".
 
Fast Eddie B said:
What he said.

I think some are veering into No True Scotsman territory.

“I’ll give you that he is an aeronautical engineer and president of his local MENSA chapter, but if he supports Trump he’s still stupid.”

Definitely No True Scotsman. Or redefining the word “stupid” beyond all recognition.
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I'm struggling to think of a smart and good Trump supporter (and not.one who is taking a risk to advance their interest).
 
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Apparently Mueller is going after Jared Kushner for possibly improper financial deals with nations other than Russia.

Trump previously drew a line saying his family’s finances should not be part of the investigation.

Thoughts on his reaction? I’m expecting another tweet storm, but would not be surprised if he goes farther.
 
Fast Eddie B said:
Apparently Mueller is going after Jared Kushner for possibly improper financial deals with nations other than Russia.

Trump previously drew a line saying his family’s finances should not be part of the investigation.

Thoughts on his reaction? I’m expecting another tweet storm, but would not be surprised if he goes farther.
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I'm betting increasing 'jokes' along the lines of the '2nd Amendment people' with ever greater levels of implausible deniability hoping for a 'will no one rid me of this turbulent priest?' moment.

But it's also possible that family finances really is his 'berserk button', and his allies have to doublethink away him committing or asking for actual crimes (again).

(I apologize for the abuse of quotation marks in this post.)
 
BobTheCoward said:
And I am worried.

Also, I'm not sure if it is logically possible to be a good and smart Trump supporter.
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In cases like these, I find that the mental framework that has the most utility is to think of people who are otherwise 'x', where 'x' could be 'smart, kind, good, composed, etc'.

I can think of Trump supporters I know of who are otherwise intelligent. 'Good' is a little too vague for my liking as far as usefulness goes, but generally, yeah, it's hard to think of anyone I know of who is a Trump supporter, and good, and smart. Of the people I personally know, the only ones who are Trump supporters (rather than just neutral, Republican, or ignorant of politics in general) are some combination of stupid and 'bad'.

Those I would call strong supporters locally have been universally vile individuals.

But that's both a small sample size, and somewhat self-selecting.
 
Oystein said:
Note that there were only 170 respondents, only 13% (=22) identified as Republican.
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Well, to be fair, it's a professional organization and not a hand-selected group of left-leaning political scientists. There just ain't any who responded. Besides, any Republicans in the field have probably resigned. "Political Science???? Oh noes, we don't do science, nosirree!"
 
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